Guard rail



July 15, 1952 E. WELCH GUARD RAIL Filed June 2, 1950 INVEN TOR. Edward Welch ATTORNEY Patented July 15, 1952 v I ED S TE 1 7 I Y 2,603,455 5 x H UAR "1 a Y Edward Welch,ValleyFalls,- f-fl-Appli'eati nsune 2, 1950, Serial'No. 1'65flis 1 81Claims. (or. 255-131 y -My' present invention'relates to guard. ra T 1 ??f f k 1 l 3 r u l le pl and'more particularly to-a guardrailfor sportmately130 inches high; andthe uppersurfaceyof ing events'involving animals. The principal object oftheapresent invention can readily seetheraih V Most1jockeys take a ls to' 'provide-a guard rail for a race track, polo 5 quick glance downwardlyf and it isoften l'diffifleld,--o'r '-similar'area; which will protect, the cult for .them'j'toproperly define the. rail onja horses against injury. v I 1O .Q a nyd yfilfqm l cil;.I! fiQ !a -'-A ffurther object of the' present invention is speeding race horse. .'For,' this reason," in;th'e to provide a safety guard ,rail which willtprevent present inventionthe uppen surface of the rail horses or other animals from being injured by 10 has been madeyviderthan the side edge'thereof splinters. 1 .1 I1 1 nd i ht ..ansul ilvd sposed t ive, the jockey Another object of the present invention is to the most favorablegview. thereotwReferring to provide a guard rail which will protect horses thedrawings. I p'royide a pluralityofrail posts r ot animals from-serious injury. l0 oirigid material such as steel orirontubing', 'with the above and otherpbjects: and advanof anydesired crosssection,jbut preferably 're'c-, tageous features in view; my invention-consists tang'ular crosssectiomas shown in Fig. '4. This the rail must be well defined sovthat the jockey of 'a n'ovel arrangement of parts more fully diswill give the;posts l ,0, m0rel rigidity The posts closed in the detailed description following' in l0 maybe imbecldedliri concrete. or cement; llfl conjunction with the accompanying A drawings as ShOWIljJ iI'i Fig. Z',""o r,j if .des'ired,.-may,be posig and-more particularly defined in the appended tioned ina removab e'f socket in the concreteior .7 4. readyireplacementij Toprotect thei'eet of the In the drawings, Fig. 1 is :a perspective view horses against" contact with the steel or iron of a section of guard rail embodying my invenposts It), each post [may be covered witha rubber non; V. g [sheathing l2, as show'nin',Fig. 4. The osts 1Figi12. is a section thereof taken on;line- 2--2 comprise vertical-portions l3 andintegral loop on Fig.1.) 1 V 1 portionsat the upper end of generally rectangu- :Fig.3:is"a longitudinal, section of a portion lar shape. Theseloopportions comprise an'u'poi the guard rail. j per downwardly inclin'ed portion M, a compara- Fig.4 is a section taken on line 4fl-onr 2. tively short'vertical portion=l5fand terminatein ,Race tracks, polo'fields and similar sporting a lower horizontal'portion l6 which extends back areas-involving, animals vare provided with guard against the vertical-portion l3, as shown in Fig, rails-'idjefining ,the trackorrfieldln the case of 2. This provides an extended arealaterally. 6i race -tracks,,the innerp'rail, is the shortest dis: the vertical portion of the post and having" a tance,=;around and race horses are trained to wide upper portionltinclined at ananglej bear inwardlytowards-the rail. Very often a n Thdpostsfllfmaybe ositioned the conv'enhorse isbumped into therail. or bolts-into the tional,eight l'feetlapart along the inner edge of rail, and serious injury can result to both the the track, with the] upper loop'portion extendhorse and the jockey. Manytimes valuable race ing laterally outwardly toward thetrack area. horses must be destroyed because of violent 011', In this manner, the horses will always be kept tact with thetrack rai1 i I g, I 40 a sufficient distance away from the vertical por- Polo. fields are provided with a very low wooden tion of. the posts so as to prevent their legs accirail .defining the p al area and occasionally dentally kicking the posts. The rail portion comaipolop ny w.Wi11 stumbleagainst such a rail and prises a plurality of L-shaped sheets oferubber su pi r s J' y q n H, the long .leg l8 extending across thetop -The:pr. s nt invention is designed t P ov arms 14 of the posts lo, and the short legsl9 agguard. rail which is "rigid enoughand firm extending vertically outside the short arms l5 enough to, act as a proper railing for; defining of the posts 10, as shown in Fig. 2. The rubber theLtrackor-polo field area, but which will give sheets I! are provided at the corner juncture of and evencollapse under the impact of a horse the legs l8 and 19 with a solid integral rubber without injuring the animal. 5 bead portion 20 to give. the sheet rigidity. The

The. present'invention may be modified to aprubberlengthsi H -may be provided to cover two ply'to, any type of area involving horses or other or more of the posts [0, but preferably are just animals; However, for purposes of illustration, slightly longer than the distance between two I'have' shown the present invention as applied posts. They can then be. positioned with their to'- a"'race track guard rail; ends. in overlapping"relationshipin. the 'direc- 7 tion of the running of the horses (counterclock- Wise in the United States).

Byusing a stiif rubber covered wire, the rubber sheeting I! may be given rigidity in addition to the bead portion along the com:

paratively thin portions I! and l9; vAi'pl'lhe/termination of each length of sheeting ll, the wire may be wrapped around the adjacent portionof' the post as shown in Fig. 2. It is preferable that. 1 the wire be not tied to the osts but merely given a sufficient number'of turns, threeshown, to hold the sheets ll rigidlyto the posts, but to permit a 1 release of thesection of rail under the impactof a' plunging horse.

.Withthe above ensm uetia, itis area all g I have'provided aguard rail whi'ch is .s'ufiiciently j rigid for the purposesirequired and which will give the 'jo'cke'y an. adequate view of the rail from a speeding horse. I The width of the upper portion, for this purpose may be approximatelyfsix inches; 'The turnedfasteningsjof' the wire-vtoj'the posts I 0 are made strongenoug h to? withstandthe.

accidental bumping which often takes place in; a race. -'If ,a'horse shouldbe bumped sidewise into theraiLjit will giveslightly and enable the. horse to right itself without injurylto thel liorseor rider. in view of the, smooth surface of the'rube ber,[the horse willnot pick up splinters nor tear.

its skin in any manner; Shoulda horseflb olt and plunge directly into the guard rail; the" wires .21 willjunwin'd under the impact of the horse and the section of guardrail will give way; .Thehorse maystumble and even'fall, but he, will not break anybones nor suffer any injury by virtue oi his hitting a solid wooden rail. Occasionally ahorsef u will even try to jump over a rail and be seriously injured thereby. It is quite obvious that therail of the present invention will collapse under the weight of the horse before the horse is injured. rrdesired; the posts l ll may be placedinto re m'ovable sockets or. even in collapsible'sockets, 'so thatthe posts themselves will'give way under the weight of the horse; N V j j '1 While I have described a specific embodiment of my invention, it, isobvious that'chan'ges may be made in the size, shape and relativearrangemerit of parts without departing from'th'e spirit and scope of the invention as definedili the appended claims. I cla m: 7 '1 1. A guard rail comprising a plurality of spaced posts, each of said posts havingthe top 'end thereof formed into a generally rectangular loop extending laterally from said post'and -a resilient sheet rubber rail having an L-sheiped crosssection extending between said posts, one leg 1 of said .L-sha'pe extendinghorizontally across the top of said loop portion and the vertical leg extending along the outer vertical edge" of'said loop.

2. A" guard rail comprising a plurality of spaced posts, each of said posts having-the top end thereof formed into a generally rectangular loop extending laterally from said post, and a resilient. sheet rubber rail having an L-shaped cross-sectionextending between said posts, one

4 leg of said L-shape extending horizontally across the top of said loop portion and the vertical leg extending along the outer vertical edge of said loop, the corner edge of said rail having an integral stiffening bead.

'3. A guard rail comprising a plurality of spaced posts, each of said posts having an integral generally rectangular portion extending laterally adjacent the top end thereof, and a' resilient railflhavmg ani Lj-shap'dgl cross-section extending between said r'ic'istsyon'e leg "of said L- shape extending horizontally across the top of said rectangular portions and the vertical leg ex- -tending along the outer vertical edge of said 'rec tangular portions, said resilient rail having a plurality of wires interlaced longitudinally thereof, said wires being fastened to said posts.

4. A guard rail comprising a plurality of spaced posts} each of said posts having the top end thereof formed into a generally rectangular loop .cxtendinglaterally from saidpost, and. aresilient sheet rubber rail having an' L+shaped cross-sec:

g tion extending between'said posts -one'leg otsaid lease from said- L-shape extending horizontally across; the topof said loop portion and the vertical legextending along theouter vertical'edge of. said; 1o op,;said resilient rail having a plurality oft-wires interlacedlongitudinally thereof,: said wires. being fastenedto saidposts. I 1;;

5; 'A guardrail comprising a plurality of spaced posts, each of said posts having thetop end thereofformed into agenerally rectangularloop extending: laterally-'fromsaid post, and a resilient sheet rubber rail having. an L-shaped cross-seca tionextending between saidposts; one legof said L-shape extending horizontally across the top of, said lo'op portion and the vertical leg extending along the outer vertical edge of said looprthe corner edgeof saidrail'having anintegral'stiffene ing head; said resilient rail having a plurality of Wires interlaced longitudinally thereof, said wires being fastened to said posts. v v

"6. A guard rail comprising a plurality of spaced posts, each of said posts having an integral gens" erally rectangular portion extending laterally adjacent the top end thereof, and a resilientrail having an L-shaped cross-section exte'ndingbetween said posts, one leg of said Leshape extend-t ing horizontally across the topof said rectangular portions and the vertical leg extending along the' outer vertical edge of said rectangular-portions, said resilient rail having a plurality of wires interlaced longitudinally thereof; said Wires being fastened to saidposts to"reta in"'saidrail on saidpcsts under normal pressure'but'to reposts under 'a' suddenlieavy -im 7 A guard rail comprising a pluralityof spaced posts, each of said posts having th'etop end thereof formed into a generally rectangular loop extending laterally from said post,and a resilient sheet rubber rail having an L-shapedcrossgsection extending'between saidposts, one leg of 'said L-shape extending horizontally across the top-of said loop portion and the vertical leg-extending along the outer vertical edge of said lo0p,'s'aid resilient rail having a plurality of Wiresfinter= laced longitudinally thereof, said wires being fast'ened to said posts to retain jsaid rail on: said posts under normal pressure but to release from said posts under a sudden heavyiimpact,

' 8. 'Aguard rail comprising a plurality of spaced posts, each of saidv posts having the topa'end thereof formed into a generallyrectangular loop. extending laterally from said post,'and a; resilient 5 sheet rubber rail having an L-shaped cross-section extending between said posts, one leg of said L-shape extending horizontally across the top of said loop portion and the vertical leg extending along the outer vertical edge of said loop, the corner edge of said rail having an integral stiffening bead, said resilient rail having a plurality of Wires interlaced longitudinally thereof, said wires being fastened to said posts to retain said rail on said posts under normal pressure but to release from said posts under a sudden heavy impact.

EDWARD WELCI-I.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,088,001 Schulz July 27, 1937 v 2,101,176 Height Dec. 7, 1937 1() 2,228,652 Dailey Jan. 14, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 567,071 Great Britain Jan. 26, 1945 r 

